How To Draw Comics

peterh321

Hi

I'm wondering how to start drawing comics either in black and white(sin city style) or in colour(like the punisher or daredevil). I cant draw that well and would like some tips. Feel free to email me at peterh321@hotmail.co.uk

tnx

Peter

bombidol

Join the Artmasters comic book class. Every Tuesday in Glasnevin/Phibsboro at 7. Eugene is around here somewhere, but i can give you his number if you are interested in joining the class. I do it and its excellent.

peterh321

Thanks but i cant join a class because i live over in england. do u have any tips or do you have any online sites for tips.

tnx

peter

bombidol

Theres loads of sites. but your best bet is to go out and buy some of the "how to" books by DC and Marvel. Theres a decent one called "Pencilling the DC Way" or something to that effect. then theres an inking one which you you need to do Miller kinda stuff. There Millions of those kinda guides around.

Abby D Cody

Not knowing how old you are or what level of drawing you're at, it's hard to recommend anything specific. But if you're in the least bit serious about drawing, then draw. It doesn't matter if it's for comics or the Tate Gallery, every visual artist you ever heard of started by learning to represent what they see on a piece of paper.

Once you're happy you can draw anything from a your thumb to an ocean liner, make up a story and sequence it. I'd recommend you start simple, something that's happened to you or something that happens to everybody, something that words don't need to explain, and see if your friends can follow the story solely from the images you've chosen and the angles you've selected.

Watch films critically, see why you think the director or DOP chose this or that shot out of the millions he might have used. TV ads are a great source of "I wouldn't have done it that way"s.

Read comics critically. Ask the same questions. Study the best (Eisner, Miller, Kirby, Ditko, Neal Adams, Frank Bellamy - my generation's heroes, find your own by all means but definitely pick up a critique from somewhere about Will Eisner. He taught us all the language everybody uses today) and remember you can learn almost as much from the worst, specifically how you would have done it so much better.

Finally, drawing comics, or any form of illustration, while to some it's a vocation, to all it's still hard graft. Comics in particular demand skills of its best practitioners in draftmanship, art direction, story-telling, casting and directing - and that's just for drawing. The writers have to learn brevity, pace and everyone has to develop and exploit their own personal style, which can take some people many years. It doesn't come to everyone and if you aren't serious about it, take up photography instead.

Yes, to some extent, I'm trying to put you off. Like every other division of the entertainments industry, it's a cruel enough business for those who have dedicated their lives to breaking into it. If you're serious, you won't let anything I've said dissuade you. If you aren't, then it doesn't matter how good at drawing you are, so long as you can entertain your family and friends.

If you're serious, however, why not try something for the Comic Creator's Challenge elsewhere on these boards?

Fysh

There's an ancient "How to draw comics the marvel way" book by Stan Lee and John Buscema, and several DC equivalents. I was given the Marvel one when I was about 12 and it was interesting as a starting point, but I wouldn't recommend it as a standalone starting point, chiefly because Stan spends a bit too much time telling you how much better Marvel's "style" is than pretty much anyone else's.

The best advice I could offer is to pick up a few books, realistically as many as you can afford. Get books on several styles, not just Marvel & DC - maybe pick up one or two on manga styles? - and consider picking up "proper" art textbooks, particularly for things like anatomy. Scott McClouds "Understanding Comics" is worth a look as well as it provides an overview of comics in general.

Those will help you start out; once you've got the basics covered, the only thing for it is to draw, draw, draw. Anything you like the look of (you mention Sin City, which are a perfect although complex example), start out trying copy panels or pages from scratch, then try to create new pages in the same style. Eventually after a while of doing this you'll come into a style of your own, and that's where the fun starts.

Anybody got any specific recommendations or otherwise on "how to draw comics" books?

the_syco

Erm... a few ebooks on the net, somewhere...

How to draw Comic Book Heros and Villains
[1] - How to Draw Comics - Awesome Anatomy!
[2] - How to Draw Comics - Zap! Pow! Crunch!
[3] - How to Draw Comics - Fantastic Foes!

All 3 above were by some dude called "Christopher Hart".

They looked good, but they seem to assume you can draw pretty good.